Second Being-The full Version
by Tashasaurous
Summary: AU: Set between "Second Chance" and "Second Life"-With Organization XIII behind them and made human, Lea takes it upon himself to look after Roxas, Xion and Namine as they now reside in Radiant Garden. But something wrong happens when he begins to realise his fusion may not be completed as he thought. Plus, other problems arise in the worlds.*Second Chance Verse-1.5*
1. Starting Over

**Second Being.**

 **Author's Note: Once again, I'm beginning yet another new story due to writer's block and it's been driving me crazy to finally start up the long awaited actual story of "Second Being" which I'm certain many of you fellow KH fans have noticed and read up it's Preview Form in "Second Being-Preview".**

 **Well, it's finally here, and hopefully it'll be a good story. Let's also hope that the release date of KH3 will be revealed in this year's E3 event(and also hopefully an Atlantis reveal and the return of Agrabah and FF characters-Cloud, Tifa, Leon, Yuffie, Cid and Aerith).**

 **I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

 _ **CH1: Starting Over.**_

* * *

 _Where Second Chance Left off..._

Lea's mind was swirling into so many questions, but he didn't know where to start. To think that this was actually happening was too good to be true. Instead, he opted to approach the three former Nobodies and wrapped his arms around the three of them, and startling them. They didn't disappear. They were real.

Realising this, Lea began to choke, falling to his knees and just continued to hug Roxas, Namine and Xion, crying. He couldn't say anything. He just couldn't.

Until he managed to say, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry." as he knew that he put all three of them into danger.

Instead of replying, Roxas, Namine and Xion, also all tearing up, hugged Lea in return, the four of them finally reunited, and Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy all smiled, happy that Lea not only had gotten his heart back, but Roxas, Namine and Xion, against all odds, were made human.

All four of them were given a second chance.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, which in reality lasted about five minutes, Lea forced himself to calm down, breathing shakily before realising the two former Nobodies and the former Replica who did the same, and the four of them faced each other.

"Roxas...Xion...Namine...I..." Lea began before pause, awkwardly. What else could he really say? For a long time, he'd thought he'd never see them again once they all returned to both Sora and Kairi-well, he didn't know when Namine vanished but he had assumed that she'd returned to Kairi by now when he(as Axel), Sora, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey entered the Castle that Never Was-that he'd have to start over again. He was still half-convinced that this was all just a dream.

Not to mention that, the main reality of being whole again himself and having been so focused on beating Xemnas hasn't quite sunk in yet. So much has happened in such a short time and Axel, when he did that suicide attack to sacrifice himself, really thought he'd fade into darkness forever.

Really, all Lea can say is how sorry he was. But then again, now that it was starting to sink in, the redhead was starting to feel woozy and dizzy since his restoration. He never really had the time to think about everything that's happened other than the things he did as Axel-the things he remembered as Axel. Memories of his childhood up until he lost his heart and the decade of being a heartless which he could barely remember other than the never-ending nightmare of the bloodthirst for hearts.

Suddenly he realised that his vision was beginning to darken and become all blurry, his chest felt tight, his insides were screaming in the sheer overload of memories and emotions. So much so that Lea groaned as he closed his eyes and immediately regretted it, because he found that he couldn't open them. He was vaguely aware of the concered voices from his friends and from Sora's group, but by then, his world went black before he suddenly hit the sand when he suddenly went unconscious.

"Axel!" Roxas cried out, quickly alarmed as the redhead suddenly passed out. He, Xion, Namine and even Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy hurried over to the former Nobody when Lea collasped, unconscious.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Donald asked, alarmed before remembering that he still didn't fully trust the former Nobody despite Lea/Axel having saved him and the others and then helped to defeat Xemnas.

When the group saw that he was still breathing, they were all a little relieved, but still concerned as Lea wasn't waking up.

"What happened?" Kairi repeated, worriedly.

Mickey frowned before placing a hand on the redhead's forehead, before answering, "Welp, I'm not sure. But I think everything that's happened to him musta finally caught up since he didn't have the time back at the Organization's stronghold."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, your majesty, I'm feeling kinda a bit woozy too." Sora admitted, placing a hand to his forehead, and so did Kairi, Roxas, Xion and Namine.

"Whatever happened must be taking it's toll on them since they only just woke up. In Lea's case, I think he's finally coming to terms to what happened when he got his heart again in such a short time. I think some rest would be a good idea." Riku thought up, while having his best friends and their former Nobodies and Xion to sit on the ground before they could end up unconscious.

The King nodded in agreement, "Let's camp here for the night. After everything that's happened, I think we all need a good long rest before we figure out what to do now. I mean, sure, Donald, Goofy and I are gonna be goin' home after a long time now that the worlds are finally safe, but I'm not sure about these fellas." as he said the last sentence he gazed at the former Nobodies and Xion.

Knowing that Mickey was right, everyone slowly made their way to find a good spot to camp on the island for the night while some of them carried Lea's unconscious form with them before Sora, Kairi and Riku would be returning to the mainland, where the boys would finally reunite with their parents...even though they'd most likely end up grounded for a while for having been away for an entire year!

* * *

 _He had no idea what just happened. As far as Lea could remember, one minute he'd been apologizing and, humitatingly, crying in front of his best friends and Namine, then the next everything was blank. Right now, everything was all black and he felt rather odd which he hadn't even noticed-not even when he fused with Axel._

 _'_ Hold on...why am I thinking seperately? Axel's me and I'm him... _' Lea's thought, troubled._

 _He couldn't think straight right now. Because not a moment after he thought this, suddenly rapidly images came flooding right at him; his childhood days back when he was human, up until the day he lost his heart by the actions of Xehanort. Then the memories of his Nobody right up until Ansem's machine exploded and then both of them fusing when Lea's heart returned. Then the memories of fighting alongside Sora and his friends against Xemnas and then the reunion on Destiny Islands._

 _It was too much. They were coming too fast. Lea couldn't breathe. His insides were burning, as though something was detatching themselves. He clutched his head and shut his eyes before opening them slowly when he felt a pressence of someone, alerting him that he wasn't alone._

 _There stood a figure as familiar as himself; the black coat, the red hair, the emerald eyes, and the tear-drop tattoos underneath them, gazing at him with surprise at first before frowning._

 _'_ Axel? _'..._

* * *

"Axel?" A familiar voice echoed as Lea began to awaken back in the real world. He was Lea, right? Or was he Axel? The redhead was too tired to figure that out.

' _Where am I?_ ' What was going on?

Blinking his eyes open, his vision cleared as the worried face of Roxas hovered over him. A bit too close for Lea's taste.

"Roxas!" Lea jolted upright, startling the young blonde as well as everyone else who jumped. The redhead then groaned while placing a hand to his forehead, using another to support himself. "Ugh...bad idea."

"Are you okay?" Mickey asked as he and the others approached the redhead who finally recovered enough to get his bearings, and then slowly remembered what happened.

"Y-Yeah. I think so." Lea replied. Right, now he remembered. He remembered everything. It'd been real, as confirmed since Sora and the others are here. He then realised that they were in the small, empty tree hut that was enough to fit at least eleven people. It was dark outside but clearly in the middle of the evening as stars twinkled and the moon was now sinking into the horizon, making it beautiful as it's reflection rippled on the ocean's water.

"Uh...what happened?" The redhead asked, finally remembering that he was in fact Lea and Axel was inside him now. They were whole; they were the same people.

"After you apologised, you suddenly passed out. Don't you remember?" Namine asked, gently.

"I remember apologising, but I don't remember passing out." Lea admitted. He then sighed and turned to the three former nobodies again, saying, "Seriously, I really am sorry...about everything I did. I tried to make things right, but I ended up making things worse."

"You don't have to keep apologising. Everything's okay now. We're back together again and we're all real people." Xion said, smiling warmly. "You, Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, the King and Kairi made things right."

"I didn't do anything." Lea grumbled, shaking his head.

"What're you talking about? Of course you did!" Sora pointed out, "Sure, you did do rotten things, but you also helped out more than even I can count. I get you wanted to see Roxas, but you helped us when we were in trouble with the Nobodies. Then you helped us get to the castle and fought that eye-patched guy, and helped to defeat the rest of the Organization, including Xemnas. You even got us back home!"

Roxas nodded in agreement with his original-self, "If it weren't for you, things would've ended differently. I...have to admit, I'm still a bit surprised I managed to heal you through Sora, and...I'm sorry for being angry with you for a real when it came to Xion. But I guess things were messed up because of Xemnas. But like Xion said, we're back together now and we're all human."

"You even let me see Sora back at Castle Oblivion and if you hadn't...Sora would've been lost and I would've been Marluxia's pawn." Namine added with a warm smile, which confused Sora, Donald and Goofy who all glanced at each other, wondering what Kairi's former Nobody was talking about, clearly still not remembering the events that unfolded in Castle Oblivion.

Lea didn't know what to say about that at first. He then began to realise, of all the wrong things he did as Axel, after what happened with Kairi, he realised that he took it upon himself to give up his selfish desires by having accepted that he wasn't going to get his life back and that he wanted to atone for his crimes. He'd thought that when he defeated all of those Nobodies he'd be dead by now and he even come to accept that he at least would've died knowing he did the right thing by saving Sora and his friends.

Then in a strange twist, he was given a second chance and continued to atone by helping the Keyblade Master and his friends to save the worlds and for a strange reason, was rewarded by getting his Heart back and become Lea once more, and even then, he continued to help, because he wanted to. He had wanted to put an end to the nightmare that Xehanort had created. Maybe that part had also been revenge for turning him into a Heartless and Nobody all those years ago. He didn't know.

But now, he had his two best friends back and Namine was back as well. Then again as far as Namine was concerned, Axel was her friend too. Someone she trusted. He never treated her like a pawn or a slave. In a strange way, he gave her comfort.

"I...guess I did. Didn't I?" Lea muttered in realization. "Does that mean...I've been redeemed?"

"Of course. It won't be easy to realise that, but I'm sure you will over time. I know it's not easy to let go of the past, but forgetting about it isn't a good idea either. Always think about all the good things and think about the future." Mickey told him wisely.

Lea thought of the King's words and began to realise that he was right. He can't change the past, but he wasn't going to forget about it, either. He made up for some of his mistakes, and now that they were all here, he can continue to do so.

"Right." The redhead nodded, before gazing at Roxas and Xion, saying, "Still, everything I told you before things messed up were the truth."

"Huh?" Roxas muttered, confused.

"You're my best friends. You both made me feel like I have a purpose to live for. Thinking about you two kept me going, even with the stupid mistakes just to see you again. I didn't want to forget about either of you...and I didn't want to lose you. And, you guys are pretty much all I have left." Lea felt his chest tighten again, and willed himself not to cry again, as he continued, "When you disappeared back into Roxas, Xion, and when Roxas had left and changed to return to Sora...nothing else mattered. I'd give anything to keep you guys safe, because...because knowing that you both are safe, I'd die to protect you guys. Knowing that you were both safe...it would make me happy."

"Oh...yeah." Roxas realised, and then smiled.

Xion beamed a smile, "You're so sweet."

That made Lea blush as he scratched his head, embarrased while chuckling, as did everyone else in the hut, even though Goofy became emotional as he sniffled.

"I guess we all finally found each other and made things right. Now we don't have to worry about Xehanort or Organization XIII anymore." Sora beamed happily. Though, deep down, as he gazed at Donald and Goofy, it made him sad. Because he knew, their adventure together was over and that meant going their seperate ways.

"But that means we won't be goin' on adventures anymore." Goofy spoke up in realization, which caught everyone else's attentions as they all sighed, while Donald moaned in sadness.

"Welp, I'm sure we can find a way to visit each other. Once and a while." Mickey spoke up, which made everyone confused and allowed him to continue, "Sure things will go back to normal, but I gotta a feelin' we can at least still visit each other. Just not going to other worlds as much as we used to, but I just know that we'll each other again."

That at least lightened the mood as the group all looked at each other. Maybe there was a chance after all.

"Hey, speaking of which. What're you gonna do, Jiminy?" Sora asked, as he realised that they briefly forgot about their Cricket friend who jumped out from Sora's hood and onto the floor.

"Well, gee...Pinocchio doesn't need my help anymore since he's learned a good lesson and I gotta feeling he's a real boy right now." Jiminy shrugged. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure where I should go."

"Hey, why don'tcha come with us?" Goofy suggested, before asking Mickey, "Is that okay, yer majesty?"

"Of course! I'd be happy to have Jiminy live with us." Mickey replied happily, turning to the Cricket, "Gosh, Minnie told me you were happy that she found ya when you first came to the Castle. Why, you could be the Royal Counsellor, if ya like."

Jiminy thought about it, before smiling and bowed the King, "I'd be fully honored, your majesty."

"What about you guys?" Sora turned to the four former Nobodies. "You wanna stay here?"

Roxas, Lea, Xion and Namine shared glances, before nodding and turned back to Sora, shaking their heads as Lea replied, "Nah. Sure this place his beautiful and all, but I think we're too used to other towns that living on a beachside kinda just...you know, makes it less interesting. No offence."

"None taken." Riku replied.

"I don't think there're houses avaliable in Twilight Town, though. Plus, we're flat broke." Lea added, troubled.

"Then, where can we go?" Roxas asked, concerned.

Everyone thought about it, and Mickey was about to make an offer for the group to live at Disney Castle too when Lea suddenly had an idea, despite the risks given a certain group not being too happy if they saw him in his coat. "Hold on...how about Radiant Garden?"

"Huh?" Namine asked, "Radiant Garden?"

"Before it was named Hollow Bastion?" Roxas asked, since he and Xion were fully aware due to having both been inside Sora at the time when MCP was defeated and Tron showed everyone in the world the memories of it's past before Maleficent's attack.

"Yeah." Lea nodded, shrugging, "I mean, that place is where I was born and grew up in before becomin' a Heartless and a Nobody."

"Really?" Sora asked, before turning to Kairi and asked, "Ring any bells?" since he and everyone else knew that Radiant Garden was the place she'd been born and spend her first four and a half years of her life in.

Kairi thought about it, before shaking her head, "Maybe I passed him once and while. But most of the time, I was hanging out with my grandma."

"Yeah, I think I mighta seen you once and while." Lea suddenly realised. "Still...if it's still here, I think I know a place we can go to in Radiant Garden. If we can, I think we can make a fresh start."

"Would it be okay...if I can come with you, Roxas and Xion?" Namine asked, a little hesitatedly. "I...I think I want to make atonements too, and I don't think staying here would be a good idea."

"Are you sure?" Riku asked, and Namine nodded.

"Do you think Leon and the others would accept us?" Roxas asked, hesitatedly.

' _Oh, right. The Restoration Committee._ ' Lea remembered. Would they really be willing to accept them; let alone him?

"Oh, I don't know. You fellas, yeah...But I'm not sure about him." Donald muttered, glaring a bit at Lea.

"I'm sure they will. Besides, we can tell them when we take Roxas and the others to Radiant Garden, and using the Corridor of Darkness is dangerous." Mickey replied, already offering to give Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine a lift. "We can help explain everything that's happened. I'm sure even Merlin will understand."

"Yeah, and I bet Aerith would agree immediately. Not sure when Cloud met them, but she sees him as a friend." Sora agreed, placing his hands behind his head.

"Cloud?" Lea asked, skeptically. ' _What kind of mom would name their kid '_ Cloud _'?_ ' He thought to himself.

"He's a friend and...he was having trouble with a bad guy named Sephiroth who wants Cloud's heart to fall into darkness." Sora explained, before gazing at Riku in realization, adding, "Sort of like what Riku with through with Xehanort's Heartless."

"Really?" Riku asked, eyes widened. He then lowered his gaze, saying, "Guess I'm not only one who had that problem. But I'm getting a feeling that he's more stubborn and cautious than I was."

"Gawrsh, wasn't Sephiroth in Radiant Garden too?" Goofy suddenly remembered.

A tensed silence.

"I think Cloud's the only one who can defeat him." Sora spoke up after a few moments. "Unless things get really bad, Sephiroth was really wanting to battle Cloud and Cloud wouldn't want anyone else to get involved in his fight. Plus, I'm sure he'll be fine and I just know that there's still light in his heart."

"So Cloud was doing what his heart told him. You're right, Sora. Unless things get really bad, we shouldn't interfere. But we'll still keep an eye out on this Sephiroth fella, just in case he does something more dangerous." Mickey agreed firmly.

' _At least this Sephiroth guy isn't after Kingdom Hearts. I'm not even sure if I've seen the guy._ ' Lea thought to himself, worriedly.

So the group decided to rest for the evening and that tomorrow Mickey, Jiminy, Donald and Goofy would give Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine a ride to Radiant Garden which be their home, to restart their lives.

But it wasn't going to be as easy as one would hope.

* * *

 **A/N: Thus this story finally begins. Not sure where this would go, but this is a gap between Second Chance and Second Life as you guys know. The next chapter will reveal some troubles and perhaps a villian which I haven't fully decided yet. If we're lucky, I'll be able to post the next chapter today too.**

 **If not, then maybe tomorrow, though next week starting Monday things will get busy. Until then, see you soon!**


	2. Homecoming

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 2, as I promished.**

 **I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

* * *

 _ **CH2: Homecoming.**_

Later in the morning the next day, after sharing a fond goodbye to Sora, Riku and Kairi as there had been tears and promises to visit soon, thanks to Mickey making a telepathic call to Yen Sid to retrieve the Gummi Ship from Twilight Town, he, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Roxas, Lea, Xion and Namine were on their way to Radiant Garden where the latter four will be residing to restart their lives. Earlier on, the eleven of them had been talking and chatting, about all the good and the bad and the adventures, and they even had a mini funeral for Ansem the Wise to honor in his memory for his sacrifice, which Mickey still saddened as Ansem's demise had finally kicked in.

Lea couldn't blame him. Losing a friend is always heartbreaking. That had made him think about Isa when he killed Saix. It wasn't fair. Why did Xehanort have to go and do that? What was his purpose?

The redhead shook his head as he was seated in the gummiship with his friends, the king, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy. It didn't matter now. Isa was gone. So were everyone else in the Organization. Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine were all very much lucky to have become full humans and Sora and Kairi remained whole. None of them or Riku knew how it was still really possible, but maybe they'll figure it out in time.

' _Wonder what would've happened if I didn't get my heart back? Would I still be a Nobody by now?_ ' Lea thought as he gazed at the stars blazing past, something that he'd never seen before. He was so used to using the Corridor of Darkness to traverse to other worlds, that seeing them pass by was strangely comforting.

But as his mind thought on the possiblities, in his reflection of the glass in the cockpit, a figure slowly materalized as though standing or sitting next to him. Lea's eyes widened before turning rapidly to his right, but didn't see anyone other than Roxas, Xion, Namine, Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Jiminy.

"Is something wrong?" Roxas asked, noticing the startled look on his friend's face, as did everyone else.

"Uh...yeah. I'm fine." Lea replied, "Don't worry about it."

He turned his attention back to the window, thinking about what he just saw. What was that about? Was it his imagination? Must be. But then again, he'd seen Axel in that dream. What did it mean?

' _You're getting paranoid, Lea. Get a hold of yourself._ ' Lea scolded himself in his mind. Of course he was seeing things. It would probably take a while to used to being whole again.

But then...why did he feel like he was missing something?

* * *

"Wow! It's bigger than I thought!" Xion remarked after she and everyone else disembarked from the Gummiship. Sure she's seen it through Sora's eyes, but to see it in person was more amazing.

"You know, I'm actually glad to be able to walk around this place on my own." Roxas commented.

"I heard that Radiant Garden used to have gardens and waterfalls." Namine said as she glanced around.

Lea shrugged, "You heard right." as he gazed at his old home. "This place used to not only have gardens, it also used to have fountains that were almost as tall as the castle. It even had a Water Reactor Facility."

"Water Reactor what?" Roxas asked, confused.

"It's a long story. Basically, it used to help run things around here, keeping the water and the air clean." Lea replied with a smirk. "Got it memorized?"

"What does that mean?" The blonde-haired teen inquired.

The redhead shifted awkwardly, before gazing at the Disney Trio who watched the preformance, "Uh...a little help?"

"Nah! You can tell them." Donald said stubbornly while looking away as he folded his arms.

"Ah, c'mon. You're still not mad at me, are you?" Lea groaned, though he couldn't blame the mage for still being distrustful. Sure Donald had cooled off a little after Xemnas was defeated, but he still didn't fully trust the former Nobody for the wrong doings. This was getting just a little ridiculous, though.

"Gawrsh, Donald. He's not like Iago and Xemnas is gone. We can trust him." Goofy pointed out to his still skeptical friend.

"Speaking of which." Lea quickly remembered, gazing at King Mickey, "You sure this Leon guy and his group will be okay in lettin' me, Rox', Xi' and Namine to live here?"

Mickey smiled, "Aw, don't worry. Once they know the whole story, I'm sure they'll trust ya's. They should be at Merlin's house right now."

Despite the King's optisim, Lea still wasn't sure, and from the slight uncertain looks in the eyes of Roxas, Xion and Namine, they obviously felt nervous about this moving in thing. But where else could they go? The redhead knew of one place-he hoped it was still intact-that could be used as their home. Sure it probably needed renovation, but at least it was for free...ish.

Then again, what if the Restoration Committee just attack him and Xion, or force them, Roxas and Namine to leave? Maybe they should've taken up Sora's offer to live in Destiny Islands. But it just didn't...feel right, especially after what Axel had done. And Twilight Town didn't come for free, unless they would count the old Mansion since no one lived there. But that probably filled too many uncomfortable memories on Namine's part.

Disney Castle was out too, since no humans lived there.

Sighing in defeat, Lea shrugged, "Well, might as well get this over with. No point in standing around here."

The others nodded, as they made their way through the Marketplace, which was getting a bit better despite the Heartless and Nobodies invasion a while ago. As they walked, and trying to avoid the local's slight suspicious stares which Lea was certain was on him due to his-or Axel's-Organization coat, Roxas asked a question that was on his mind since yesterday.

"So, is it true that your old name was Lea, Axel?" Roxas asked, though he was careful for only the group to hear.

"Yep. Pretty much. So, that's who I'm gonna go by now that I got my heart back. So, you guys better get it memorized." Lea replied with a shrug.

The former Nobody of Sora chuckled, "That'll take a while in getting used to."

"Then let's practice." Lea suggested, "L-E-A. Got it memorized?"

Roxas was about to reply when an idea formed into his head and grinned, "L-Tea!"

"Hey, you did that on purpose!" Lea pouted childishly, quickly having figured out his friend's game which made Roxas laugh. The kid's smile was contagious, however, as Lea quickly joined in the laughter. Man, he sure missed this. He just wished Isa was with them. The more the merrier is what they say.

"Wonder what they're laughing about?" Goofy thought, while Donald snickered after hearing what Roxas called Lea.

Xion couldn't help but giggle as she explained, "Before I came, Roxas at first called Axel _"Axess"_ during his first week in the Organization."

"Axess?" Donald repeated before he bursted out into hysterical laughter while even Namine giggled and Mickey and Goofy both tried not to laugh.

"Oh, sure. Make the fun outta me, why dontchas?" Lea responded sarcastically, but decided that he didn't care. Thinking back now, it was a bit funny. Though he hoped it wouldn't go against him constantly.

"A-ha! I did it!" A familiar voice suddenly shouted next to the group who jumped in fright, before realising that the voice belonged to none other than Scrooge McDuck who was holding a familiar ice cream bar in one hand while holding his cane in the other.

"Did what, Uncle Scrooge?" Donald asked to get his uncle's attention after having briefly forgotten that Scrooge had still been here. He was also a bit miffed for nearly having a heart attack due to the latter's outburst.

As though realising that he had company, Scrooge looked and smiled, before realising that Donald and Goofy were here without Sora and instead with a familiar face and four new commers, one who looked like Sora. Or rather, two familar faces and three new commers, one who looked like Sora. Because he was certain, gazing at the tall red haired young man in the black coat, he looked strikingly familiar.

"Why, your Majesty! It's been quite a while!" Scrooge chuckled as he greeted the King who smiled happily in return.

"It's great to see ya too, Scrooge!" Mickey replied, before asking, "What're you doin'?"

"I've been tryin' to to recreate my favorite old-time ice cream, and I finally succeeded. Aye, Sea-Salt Ice Cream is back!" Scrooge declared happily.

"You actually made Sea-Salt Ice Cream?" Roxas asked, eyes wide as he, Xion and Namine looked amazed.

Lea smirked, "That flavor used to be one of the famous around here 'till ten years ago. Twilight Town's not the only place that has it. I'm actually surprised this guy managed to re-create it. Then again, at least we'll have our favorite flavor around here."

That's when it finally hit Scrooge in the head as he gazed at Lea, realising, "Ach, you're that lad who used to live 'ere. Ya certainly 'ave grown fast, lad."

"You remember me?" Lea asked caught off-guard, eyes wide in disbelief.

"You know each other?" Goofy asked, confused.

Feeling uncomfortable as memories of his teenage days crept up, and hesitating due to Roxas and Xion not being on the best terms with Saix even though he was aware that they'd seen everything that happened when they were still inside Sora, Lea awkwardly replied, "Y-yeah. It was back when me and Isa were kids. Eleven years ago, this guy came and was selling Sea-Salt Ice Cream. We don't actually know each other. I just happened to be one of his costumers."

"I thought anyone couldn't get to other worlds until last year." Roxas frowned.

Mickey suddenly gulped before whistling sheepishly as uncomfortable memories filled his mind. He shouldn've known something like this would happen. It had been eleven years since...something else happened. He didn't even notice Namine's uncomfortable look as she gazed at him. She knew what he was thinking, because it concerned Sora.

' _Maybe now isn't the best time to ask him. I mean, I should be gone and inside Kairi. I didn't think I can be here to ask King Mickey._ ' Namine thought to herself.

"Well...something kinda happened during that time." Mickey finally admitted, causing the four former Nobodies to glance at him, before he quickly added, "But don't worry! It's already been taken care of!...You know, before Maleficent and Xehanort attacked."

"Whatever." Lea waved it off.

* * *

Unknown to the group, a suspicious looking figure who looked like a jester in multiple colours, manly yellow, stood on the roof top near where they had emerged from the Gummi Ship, watching the four highly anthropomorphic animals and the four humans. Yet, the jester knew, there was more to the humans, because he can sense it.

"What's this? Four highly anthropomorphic animals giving an assassin, a key of destiny, a witch and a puppet a tour of this rundown city used to be full of light to call home?" He inquired to himself, and as though finding this both amusing and infuritating, he snickered to himself, "Oh this is rich-so rich it gives me gas! Gives me gas, I say! Hahaha!"

Which a second later he, er...gave out a bit of gas.

"And I give it back." He added, before growling softly to himself. "This. Won't. Do."

The man then noticed the group giving their farewell to Scrooge before they continued on towards the Borough, and continued to himself with a smirk before suddenly teleporting to one side and then the other, eventually standing on the arch while well out of sight of the group.

"These pititful younglings, think they can rebegin their lives and not fully accepting the Darkness in the path they rightfully belonged to. Not to mention they falsefully believe they are human! That pyro maniac doesn't even have a clue that his fusion isn't fully completed, and both those two nobodies of Sora and Kairi believe they are whole and the Puppet-it thinks it has a heart of it's own now? Completely pathetic and disillusioned fools!"

He paused before teleporting to another hiding spot when the group came a bit too close, knowing that they could sense and hear him, before an idea formed in his mind; a wicked idea.

"Perhaps that pryo's Nobody would be a good use if he continues giving into the fear of fading away once he sees this. As for the King, no doubt the Witch has her eyes on him; he has been here in another crisis. They could be quite useful...to get to Sora's Nobody. Or even...that brooding swordsman and his manifested darkness..." He continued.

With this plan in mind, he laughed maniacally before disappearing to begin carefully filling up his plot that would involve the group.

* * *

Xion froze up just before the went around the corner where Merlin's house was located and spun to see where this feeling she had came from. She looked up at the roofs of the buildings, but didn't see anything or anyone. She could've sworn she sensed something.

"You okay, Xion?" Roxas asked as he and the others noticed their friend stopped before they approached her.

"I...I thought I sensed someone watching us." The former Replica replied.

"Like who?" Donald asked, as he and the others shared concerned glances.

"I don't know..."

"Organization XIII?" Goofy asked, worriedly.

But Lea shook his head firmly, "No. Other than me, Rox' and Xion even though we're not Nobodies anymore, everyone else are gone. I should know, because the first five to go were Lexaeus, Vexen, Larxene, Marluxia, and Zexion."

"This was before I returned to Sora." Roxas remembered, thinking back of his memories that had returned.

"They wouldn't...happen to have been at Castle Oblivion, right?" Mickey asked, frowning.

"Yeah." Lea nodded. Mentally, he was feeling uncomfortable again. He actually thought he wasn't there at that moment, and even though it already happened when he was Axel...something else...strange. ' _Why do I feel...like I wasn't there?_ '

"Oh, right. Riku was there too, right?" Roxas asked.

"It was also the place where I was born." Namine added, lowering her head. "After Sora saved Kairi."

"That's also the place where Vexen created me." Xion added.

"Huh? You were at Castle Oblivion too?" Mickey asked, surprised as he gazed at the former Replica.

"There was more to that place than the fact that it was a giant maze with some kind of power that makes people get lost and not being able to figure out it's mysteries. ' _People who step into it are forever lost into Oblivion, unable to solve it's mystery_ '." Lea explained. "That's what Xemnas once said."

The King frowned, "But what would Xemnas would want with Castle Oblivion if he even wanted Kingdom Hearts?"

"Who knows?" The redhead shrugged. No, it wasn't time to mention about his and Saix's secret plot to figure out Xemnas' secret agenda yet. Not even about the Chamber of Waking.

Suddenly his eyes widened as another memory came into his mind, hitting him like someone threw a brick right at his forehead.

* * *

 _ **FlashBack: During the events of "KH: 358/2 Days"...**_

 _Axel had no idea why Xion was being stubborn or what she was talking about. Dreams, memories...with him in them. Sure he'd been here, but he sure as hell knew he never encountered Xion in this place. Only Sora and his two companions. And Namine._

 _"You can't fool me. We've met before, Axel, right here in this castle!" Xion yelled, both in desperation and in anger. Two things that Nobodies should not have._

 _"No, we have not." Axel told his friend calmly, placing his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Let's go home, Xion. Don't keep Roxas waiting."_

 _Xion shook her head, and as far as she was concerned, Roxas was the last thing on her mind right now. "Please, Axel...you've got to help me! I need to know who I am." squirming out of the redhead's hands and ran past him, much to his shock._

 _"Stop! Stay out of there! Xion!" Axel yelled out, quickly giving chase as his friend enters through the golden doors at the end of the hall. "Wait, Xion!"_

 _But before he could enter the room, something suddenly blasted right at him causing him to scream while he skid and hit the wall hard. The redhead hissed in pain, wondering who managed to attack him out of the blue for. When Axel looked up, his eyes narrowed in shock and anger, as a figure, younger than himself but slightly older than both Roxas and Xion, stood there with a bat wing-like sword, silver hair and a blindfold._

 _"Don't stand in the way." The figure warned, darkly._

* * *

End of FlashBack:

Lea blinked, as though he'd been briefly electrocuted by a Thunder Spell or something. Where'd that memory come from?

"Lea? Are you alright?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

"Sorry, what?" The redhead asked, vaguely confused. He was suddenly aware that everyone was gazing at him, most with worried gazes, and Donald with a suspicious look.

"Ya looked like you blanked out. Is somethin' wrong?" The King added.

Realising that the memory-Axel's memory-hit him out of nowhere, Lea placed a hand to his head, eventually replying, "No. I'm fine." but in truth, maybe he wasn't fine. He seemed fine yesterday, even after Xemnas had been destroyed. What was going on?

' _Wait. Why am I thinking like this? Axel's me and I'm him..._ ' Lea thought, but something wasn't adding up. 24 hours ago, he believed he did everything as a Nobody and as a human beforehand. So why was he thinking like he was different from his other half?

" _...thing's...not right._ "

"What?" Lea blinked, looking around as a voice echoed. It sounded...very familiar.

"Ax-Uh, Lea?" Roxas blurted out, correcting himself while wondering what his friend was saying.

"Did you guys hear that?" Lea responded.

"Did we hear what?" Goofy asked, confused.

"Didn't you hear someone speaking?"

Roxas, Xion, Namine, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and even Jiminy shared confused glances, before turning back to the redhead and shook their heads. Lea blinked, confused, glancing around again.

"I coulda sworn..." He began, before shaking his head slightly and finally muttered, "Maybe it's just my imagination."

At least he hoped it was.

All of the sudden, the group found themselves surrounded by Shadow Heartless that appeared, alarming them.

"Heartless!?" Mickey exclaimed.

"Again?" Roxas grunted, and automatically attempted to summon his Keyblades, but found, to his and everyone else's surprise, not only could summon one, but it wasn't the Kingdom Key he, Sora and Xion all shared and replicated. Instead, this Keyblade was different; it was Oblivion. One of the twin Keyblades he used to wield in his last battle against Axel in the virtual Twilight Town.

"What?" The former Nobody muttered.

"Look out!" Donald cried out, as a Heartless leaped at Roxas who reacted just in time and slashed the Heartless into Oblivion with his, well, Oblivion Keyblade.

Xion followed suit, and to her and everyone else's surprise, like Roxas's Keyblade, her Keyblade was different; It was the other Keyblade he'd used in his dual-wielding; The Oathkeeper.

"What's going on?" She asked, stunned, before quickly slashing at another Heartless that attempted to attack her.

Grunting and summoning his Chakrams, Lea informed the group firmly, "Let's worry about that later! We gotta take these things out first!" before blocking two Heartless before slashing them into pieces and then hissed when one managed to catch him off-guard, sending him to the ground. Thankfully, Mickey, who had summoned his Keyblade, leaped and destroyed the Heartless that covered the redhead who was surprised before nodding his thanks after the King nodded to him.

Donald summoned his Staff and casted Firaga at the Heartless while Goofy, realising that Namine couldn't fight, kept her close to him and smacked Heartless away with his shield before Roxas, Xion and Lea realised the same thing before hurrying to her side, pushing her and Goofy out of the way when one of the Army Heartless nearly attacked the duo from behind.

"Try and stay in a safe place 'til things calm down!" Lea ordered to the young blond-haired girl who nodded and hurried to hide behind nearby crates. He then turned his attention back to the Heartless that nearly attacked her and Goofy before tossing his weapons at it where it had no chance of escaping.

Roxas by then tossed his Keyblade the same way Sora always did and as promised, despite both of them being seperate people now, it seemed some skills could still be shared. He dodge-rolled out of the way as more Heartless swiped at him or casted spells of Fire, Ice or Thunder at him and his friends who also dodged the attacks.

The group continued to fight until the Heartless were defeat. Or at least they thought, until ten more appeared, once again trapping the group to the corner where Namine was hiding, and the fighters grunted, tensed and very annoyed.

"Ugh! Where are they coming from?" Roxas grunted, frustrated.

"Hey, go away!" Donald yelled, agitated.

The Heartless then leaped to attack again, and Lea was about to blast a fire ball at them when suddenly a Shuriken appeared out of nowhere, elimating three while a familiar man appeared, wielding a gunblade and slashed at the remaining Heartless, accompinied by a familiar seventeen year old ninja girl who went to retrieve her Shuriken and helped the man to finish off the rest.

"Hey, it's Yuffie and Leon!" Goofy exclaimed in relief.

"Hey, guys!" Yuffie greeted as she turned to face them, before asking Mickey, Donald and Goofy, "Where's Sora? And who're these guys?" while gazing at Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine who rejoined them.

Before anyone could answer, as Leon turned, he then pointed his gunblade at Lea who froze, as did everyone else. "If you're holding the King and our friends hostage, think twice before you end up caught yourself."

"What?" The redhead asked.

"You're with Organization XIII, right?"

' _Oh, that's right_.' Lea thought, realising that since he was still wearing the coat, this guy-whom was somehow familiar-thought he was still a member of the Organization.

"Hold on, Leon." Mickey quickly told him as he approached the gunblader. "He's a friend and he helped us and Sora to find Riku and Kairi and to stop the Organization. Not only that, he and the other three are human now."

"Huh?" Yuffie asked, surprised, glancing back and forth between the trio and the new commers, two(Lea and Xion) who were wearing the Organization Coats, which she never saw before, but had heard from Leon and Sora.

"But he and that girl used to be part of the Organization, weren't they?" Leon pointed out.

"When you put it that way, yeah. But we ditched the Organization since they wanted to destroy us." Lea answered, trying to ignore the fact that the gunblader's weapon was aimed to stab him. He then suddenly remembered who this guy really was and added, mocking a pout, "And is that a way to treat an old class-mate at high school, Squall?"

"How do you-" Leon cut himself off when he expected more closely at the redhead before his eyes widened slightly, muttering in disbelief, "...Lea?"

Lea grinned, "Bingo! And just so you know, I used to be a Heartless and a Nobody, but as luck would have it, I got my heart back."

"Class-Mate?" Roxas asked, confused. He gazed at Xion and Namine who both shook their heads, not having a clue what their best friend meant either.

"Leon and Lea used to go to the same High School?" Goofy asked, confused while gazing at Donald who groaned due to his friend's stupidity and facepalmed himself in annoyance.

"They don't mean any harm. You can trust them." Mickey ensured.

Despite this, Leon was still hesitating even though he now recongised Lea back in their childhood days, and while neither of them or Isa had been friends, they did attend the same school together, and for a long time, the lone-wolf man always did find the redhead's personality and quirks to be loud, annoying and obnoxious.

"Fine." Leon finally replied, lowering his weapon. "Let's head inside Merlin's house so you can explain everything."

He then lead the group to the house, while Lea sighed in relief, but he paused when he saw a glimpse of red and black around the corner. Gasping, he whirled around but saw no one. Furrowing his brows, he then shrugged and decided it was his imagination again before he followed the others inside.

But there was more to that then the redhead had thought.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this is such a slow start and I'm sorry for that. But at least I managed to update this again, though I probably won't be able to for the next few days(or the next week or so the more likely) but I intend to finish this story like I try to do with the others(And I know that I'm taking forever with them, but I can't help it).**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Seeing Double?

**Author's Note: Successfully managed to upload another chapter. Though this will now have to wait since the next three days will be busy.**

 **I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

* * *

 _ **CH3: Seeing Double?**_

It'd taken the group at least seven hours to explain to the Restoration Committee(including Aerith, Merlin and Cid) of the events that happened and the good news that came along with it. They did, however, also mentioned the bad news which was that Ansem the Wise-the real Ansem-was gone and the truth about Xehanort. Lea also revealed the Organization's goal which, given that it was gone now, was useless. Though at least, after thinking about it, three of the original members had succeded in getting what they wanted and that they were together and the worlds were saved;

Lea himself, Roxas and Xion had their hearts now, and even Namine was granted a Heart as well.

By the time the four of them, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy were done, the allies and friends of Sora thought deeply about this.

"I see...so that's what happened." Leon thought. He was still suspicious about the events that happened, but was far less hostile towards Lea and Xion now.

"No wonder he looks lot like Sora..." Yuffie commented at Roxas who shrugged. The young ninja then asked, "So how come you came here?"

"Needed a place to stay." Lea shrugged.

"They wanted a place to call home, so we brought 'em here to help them make a fresh start." Mickey continued, "If that's alright with you fellas."

"Ya' sure you wanna help these kids? Well, Namine and that girl-Xion was it-maybe, but the Nobody of Sora and that tall guy? I'm skeptical." Cid inquired, eying the former Nobodies with suspicion.

The former Nobodies, Mickey, Donald and Goofy shared uncertain glances, becoming worried that maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea. But then again, where else could Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine go?

"I think we should give them a chance." Aerith finally spoke up, causing everyone to gaze at her in surprise.

"Aerith-!" Leon tried to reason, only to flinch slightly at the young woman's hard glare. "...Er, sorry. Please continue." He apologised, surprisingly rather scared.

"I think you're a big wuss if you're scared of Aerith, Leon." Yuffie teased, which made the older man glare at her.

Aerith ignored the two of them and continued, "If Sora, the King, Donald and Goofy trust them, then we should trust them too. After all, they helped in defeating the Heartless and the Nobodies."

"I agree. Especially since Lea has redeemed himself already." Merlin agreed. "Though the problem is finding a place for you to stay while you're here."

"Oh, that's easy. If it isn't already full of people, I know a place the kids and I can live in." Lea shrugged.

The wizard seemed fine with that, before saying firmly to the younger man, "You do know that, considering how Roxas, Xion and Namine were born from Sora and Kairi and were made humans, they have no parents. Meaning that you, being close to them, are their guardian."

"I know." Lea nodded, already fully aware that he is the responsible adult for the kids now, and despite the nervousness, he was ready to take that responsiblity and he was going to take it very seriously.

"What are parents?" Namine asked, confused.

"Uh...they're...well...people who give birth to normal people and take care of them as a family and watch them grow up. Basically, that's how life normally goes. Humans and other life with hearts don't just appear outta nowhere like the Heartless and Nobodies." Lea explained while feeling awkward.

"Isn't that like when a person turns into a Heartless and creates a Nobody?" Roxas asked.

"No. Well, that is a very complicated thing to explain." Lea shrugged. "See, when an adult guy and an adult girl get together, they are...do something which makes the woman have live grow inside her and after 9 months, she finally gives birth to the person which we call a baby at first. The gender, though, is always random. It could be a boy or a girl. Sometimes, they even give birth to twins or triplets."

An awkward silence.

Finally, Roxas shuddered slightly, "You're right. It is complicated."

"Well...if Aerith and Merlin think it's okay, then I'll give them a chance too!" Yuffie finally spoke up, in an effort to break away the rather embarrassing conversation that had shifted from the main point of the gathering.

"Three against two ain't a good sign, Leon. Might as well agree." Cid grumbled at the younger man who was still hesitant. He still wasn't fully sure if he could trust the four former Nobodies, but considering the situation...

Finally he sighed, and made his decision.

"Fine. You guys can stay here, under one condition." Leon finally responded.

"Name it." Lea encouraged, feeling very relieved that Leon was willing to give him and his friends a chance. Whatever the condition may be, the redhead was certain they can handle it.

"That you'll agree to help us rebuild Radiant Garden and keep the Heartless at bay."

Well, that sounded half-easy. Lea had considered in requesting in to help rebuild this world anyway. He turned to Roxas, Xion and Namine who all looked very eager to do that and they nodded.

"Done." Lea replied, and the two men shook hands to finalize this new arrangement. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aerith and Yuffie smiled happily while Merlin was sastified. Cid just shook his head with a shrug, wondering what the Realm of Light was coming to but said nothing.

"We should head over to the Bailey. Heard there's something suspicious happening near the castle." Leon continued.

"Do ya's need a hand before we head home?" Mickey offered.

"If you're okay with it."

"Sure! We can do that. Can't we?" Goofy answered this time and both Mickey and Donald nodded in agreement.

"And I'll be heading to the shops for a few supplies." Merlin spoke up.

"I'll go with you." Aerith volunteered.

"And I'm going with Leon and the others!" Yuffie happily said.

"Good luck with that." Cid waved off sarcastically.

"Do you think...I can go with you and Merlin, Aerith?" Namine asked.

"I'll go with too, if that's okay." Xion added.

"Of course you can." Aerith nodded.

With that settled and with Lea's approvement, the group stood up and began heading out the door, though the redhead had to admit, he still felt that not all of them fully trusted him and his friends just yet.

"...So, you're willin' to let us stay?" Lea asked, hesitatedly.

"Of course. I mean, we all had our problems everywhere." Merlin nodded. But as he shut the door behind him to head over to the Marketplace on foot, he didn't realise that his beard got stuck in the door which pulled him back. As he yanked at it, the wizard complained, "There! See what I mean?"

With a giagantic tug, Merlin successfully pulled himself free. But his heard rapidly wrapped around his head and wand. He pulled hard while groaning, only for his entire head to be covered in white aging hair. For a split second, it reminded Lea of a dandelion covered in seeds. For another second, Merlin spluttered as he unrolled his beard from his face, resulting secret snickers from Roxas, Xion and Namine, while Lea tried not to laugh.

"Oh, this confounded beard!" Merlin complained, while everyone else tried not to laugh either. He then turned to Yuffie and warned her firmly, "And you'd better not tell Cid about this, young lady! If he finds out, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Not a word." Yuffie snickered with a grin.

"Kids..." Leon groaned to himself, placing his head to his face in exasperation.

Lea smirked, "Ah, most of 'em aren't too bad."

"I think you're only saying that because you haven't changed and you're still a big kid yourself." The gunblader deadpanned.

"Hey!" The redhead pouted.

* * *

 _Half an hour later..._

"Well, that was a bust." Yuffie grumbled as she and the others had rechecked the Bailey for the fifth time.

"Wonder where they could've gone?" Roxas mumured as he glanced around carefully again.

Lea shook his head as he placed his hands on his hips, glancing around the area for the sixth time, "Well, we're not gonna find much if we stand around here. Maybe it was just a few remaining Heartless running around."

"We should head back. Whatever it was, it's gone now." Leon reluctantedly agreed. "Sorry for bringing you guys here for nothing."

"Oh, that's okay, Leon. It was better to be safe than sorry." Mickey replied, before saying, "I guess me, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy gotta head back home too."

"We can't forget to say goodbye to everybody else, though." Goofy reminded.

"Yeah." Donald nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, can't have you guys run off without giving Xi' and Namine a heads up." Lea smirked.

Everyone else nodded before treking their way back, but as they did, Lea suddenly noticed something at the corner of his eyes and froze before spinning to see what it was. He gasped as his eyes widened in shock and confusion, was a figure as familiar as he was, standing there with similiar confusion as well.

Lea shut his eyes and shook his head before opening them again as though thinking he was hallucinating. But now, his vision stayed the same and he felt himself go all cold.

"A-Axel?" Lea whispered, shocked beyond belief. It couldn't be. He was restored, so he shouldn't be seeing his Nobody here. Though something else didn't add up; he also see-through, like a ghost.

" _Hello, Lea._ " Axel greeted, rather calmly as though this was casual. " _What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost._ "

"H-How-!? Y-you're supposed to be..." Lea found himself having trouble breathing, unconsciously taking a step back. This wasn't right. Axel shouldn't even be standing there! He was supposed to be within Lea, because they had merged!

" _Gone?_ " Axel finished, before shrugging, " _Yeah, I have to admit, this is completely weird. But I think I have a pretty good idea what's going on, and this all started since last night._ "

Lea's mind went blank at first, before he remembered collasping, and then that horrid dream he had on the Island. "So...it wasn't just a dream, then?" When he didn't get an answer, he looked up and realised that Axel was suddenly gone as he'd appeared.

Was that really a hallucination? Had Lea been talking to himself? Was he suddenly going crazy?

"Lea?" Roxas called from a short distance, causing the redhead to turn and saw that he realised he trailed behind and Roxas came back to find him. "C'mon, hurry up!"

"Uh, y-yeah! Comin'!" Lea called back, and when Roxas turned back to rejoin the others, he turned back to the spot where Axel had been standing. Or at least the hallucination of his Nobody.

At least he hoped it was a hallucination.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a medieval like room with a huge round table, several silhouette figures were seated in chairs, with a dark-red cloaked figure with a hood covering the head seated at the head of the table. There were seven chairs in total, and were already filled, except for one.

"Good greetings, friends." The head figure spoke in a deep voice. "Today marks a celebration; I am pleased to announce that Organization XIII has been defeated by the bearer of the Keyblade and his allies. Which means we can finally begin to achieve our goal."

"Beg your pardon for interrupting, Master." One of the figures, a male, in the middle of two others on the left side of the table spoke. "But we are missing a member of our council."

"He will come shortly. Which is why I have not yet spoke of our plans."

Shortly was an understatement, as in a mist of darkness, appeared the Jester who materalized in a seated position on the right side of the table, his head leaned on his hand while his elbow was on the table, and his left leg crossed over to his right.

"So sorry. Am I missing something marvelous?" The Jester inquired camly.

The third mysterious figure on the other side snorted in his direction, saying, in another male voice, "You're late, Kefka."

"Am not! You all are simply far too early. It's not my fault many of you just come to the table every day without going out and doing something more exciting; Like, oh, I don't know-destroy and cause death and doom!" The Jester, known as Kefka, pouted.

"That's all you ever do; you just destroy everything you touch." The fourth figure pointed out, and if the light shined on him, one could see he rolled his eyes.

Kefka just cackled maniacally, "Ah, but that's not always the case. I discovered something quite interesting and delicious in Hollow Bastion."

"Do tell." The third figure gestured.

"Well, you know how Heartless and Nobodies are created and when both are destroyed, they fused together to become an original being once more?" Kefka inquired, and when the other people nodded, he continued, "It seems that Sora has once again set his Nobody free, and that Replica whom was meant to be forgotten has returned. As for one of the seven Princess Brats, her Nobody is sighted, and that Pyro Assassin of the Organization has become a human."

"Is that so?" The head figure questioned.

Kefka grinned evilly, "Ooh, you haven't heard the best part; fear has crept into his heart, which is causing the fusion to be torn apart; meaning that that Nobody could return while his Somebody will be overcome by fear and become what Sora and Xehanort's Heartless were. And we all know we want Sora's Nobody, right? Why not simply also use this to our advantage; even lure in that King Mickey who was oh so giving those Nobodies and that Puppet a tour, as well as that brooding puppet and his manifested Darkness?"

"...The King has guided the Nobodies and the Puppet to Hollow Bastion?" A fifth figure, also a male, inquired, before chuckling as though he found this amusing. "A young King still as innocent as Sora; two young warriors with no path to fully understand. It seems a sequel to a long-everlasting story has just began."

"I was just saying that!" Kefka grunted, quickly annoyed. "Didn't that get through that thick-everything is a tragic story-skull of yours!?"

"Your skull is not that thinner, Kefka." The third figure snorted.

"Who asked you!?"

"Enough!" The head figure commanded, silencing everyone else before continuing, "While the assassin, the two Nobodies, the Puppet, the King, the wandering swordsman and his darkness could be quite useful, we only aqquire one, but they cannot be fully reached into our grasp as they would not cooperate willingly, especially Sora. What we need is to make sure they would fall into our grasp...with a certain incidents and tests. But there lies a bit of a problem; three others are moving as we speak."

"What? Those little wrenches? What would they be doing now?" Kefka grunted in sheer annoyance and a hint of anger.

The head figure shook his head, "It's obvious that they still intend in stopping us. So, for now, we wait until we can catch those Nobodies off-guard."

"And when will that day come?" The fifth figure inquired.

"...In three days."

* * *

When Lea and the others all returned to Merlin's house, the four former Nobodies and the Restoration Committee shared their goodbyes to Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy who all returned to the Gummi-ship to finally return to their homeworld of Disney Castle. After that, Merlin and Aerith had both provided new clothes for at least three of the newcommers, while Roxas had retrieved his old coat but decided to keep it for emergancy as he still wore his clothes when he was first born.

Though before they left, Merlin had provided five cards to Mickey, Roxas, Xion, Namine and Lea, and even two more with Riku and Kairi's names on it; like Sora, Donald and Goofy, they had now become honorary members of the Restoration Committee, and Mickey promised to deliever Kairi and Riku's cards to them as soon as possible.

"So, how do we look?" Lea spoke up behind the group after he, Xion and Namine got dressed. Roxas, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid and Merlin all turned to see that the three of them had emerged from the two seperate rooms, fully clothed in their new garments.

Lea's new clothes were a black leather jacket with an orange shirt underneath, black jeans and leather brown boots. His jacket also had orange lines on the collar and lined down on his sleeves.

Xion's was fairly simple, but she loved her new clothes none the less. She wore a think dark red jumper, dark gray tights and brown boots that resembled to Aerith's.

Namine's resembled Aerith's pink dress from Traverse Town, except that hers was white and blue, her new short jacket a dark navy, and brown shoes, and her hair was in a braid with a blue tie at the bottom and a blue ribbon on the top.

"...Wow!" Roxas gapped, stunned. "Guys...you look amazing!"

"You think so?" Xion asked, blushing a little as did Namine.

Lea grinned, saying, "That's the best compliment you ever said, Rox'."

"You look cool and the girls look beautiful!" Yuffie commented with a big smile.

"They really suit you." Aerith agreed happily.

"Not bad." Cid simply shrugged.

"Splendid, indeed!" Merlin praised, before quickly saying to the four former Nobodies, "Now, thoses are no ordinary garments. The King had requested some sort of protection magic which I did, with a bit of help from Yen Sid and the Three Good faries."

"That wouldn't happen to be the magic you casted on me, right?" Roxas asked, curiously. His three friends looked curious as well.

The Wizard nodded, "Yes, indeed. Since Lea still uses the power of darkness, it was best that, to avoid any suspicion without wearing coats and only if you agree to explore the worlds without breaking the rules, including visiting Sora and the others, your clothes will protect you from the darkness; the same way your coats once did, or even like Namine's light because of her connection with Kairi."

"Seriously? We're even allowed to do that?" Lea asked, surprised.

"But only if you use that just to open up corridors, but do not do it constantly. You can't always rely on darkness to solve all your problems, because darkness cause problems as well." Merlin told him firmly.

"Okay, okay. I get the idea." Lea quickly replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "Besides, I don't think any of us will be exploring the worlds anytime soon, especially since things had just calmed down a little."

"He has a point." Roxas agreed.

"Well, if that's the case, then we should all call it a night. It's starting to get late." Leon suggested, before asking, "You got a place to say?"

Lea smirked when everyone gazed at him, "Sure do. If it's still there."

* * *

Thankfully it was still here, and also thankfully, it was empty. After bidding their new allies a goodnight while promising to return to Merlin's house the next morning, Lea had led Roxas, Xion and Namine into an abandoned building with caution, though they didn't need to worry, because the house, although wrecked via for the past ten years, was rather homey. Lea glanced around before sliding his fingers on the dusty old railing of the stairs that lead up to rooms above.

It's been years since he'd been home, and his chest tightened as did his throat. Memories began to fill up in his mind, as well as regrets. Lea could remember the last thing he said to his parents before they all died; that he would be home in time for dinner and that he loved them.

"Lea?" Xion asked. "What's this place?"

Snapped out of his slightly emortional trance, Lea turned to look at the three teens who had now become his brother and sisters, and answered, "This, is where I grew up in, before I became a Heartless and a Nobody. This is my childhood home."

"This is your home?" Roxas asked, surprised as he looked around.

The redhead shrugged, "Well, I guess you could say that." he then added, "And, since we don't have a place to live yet, might as well provide it as our house. It ain't much, but it's home."

The teens smiled at this, and looked around again, with Roxas saying, "I think it's great."

"You couldn't have picked a better place to live, Lea." Namine said. "I love it already."

"Me too." Xion added, as she walked up the stairs to explore.

"Glad you guys like it." Lea smiled, before stretching out his arms, and yawned, then said, "Well, this place does need a renovation, and since we don't any beds or couches yet, I'm gonna go and buy us some sleeping bags for starters while you three get used to this place."

As he walked towards the door, he paused and told them, "Starting tomorrow, we start in help in rebuilding Radiant Garden, to earn some more cash to buy furniture and all that."

"Sounds like fun! I can't wait to get started!" Roxas exclaimed happily, while he continued to look around.

"You might wanna think about sleep first, Rox'." Lea suggested. "It's gonna be pretty busy until this entire world is fully rebuild. Got it memorized?" as he walked out the door.

"He's still got that habit of sleeping?" Xion giggled as she shook her head while coming down the stairs. "Why am I not surprised?"

"He hasn't been sleeping lately before he got his heart back." Namine stated. "Ever since Roxas returned to Sora, Axel's been restless."

Roxas, overhearing this, paused before looking at the floor. He recalled that day, and mentally sighed. Deciding to worry about that later, he looked up to the two girls and said, "Well, I for one, probably won't be able to sleep tonight since I wanna get started in helping rebuilt this place!"

That, Xion and Namine doubted.

Lea ventured through the streets as he made his way to the Marketplace. The good thing about defeating Heartless was that they dropped munny, and since he was flat broke, whatever munny he picked up was enough to buy four sleeping bags. He sighed before gazing up at the twilight sky which was starting to become darker.

' _Well...at least this is a start._ ' The redhead thought to himself.

* * *

Later that night, with sleeping bags ready, and having to sleep in the living room since it has a fireplace, Lea, Roxas, Xion and Namine were all bundled up, the fireplace having a fire set up by the flames of flurry, and were all nice and warm. Roxas, despite his claims earlier, was snoring his head head, while Xion and Namine slept peacefully like small children.

Lea on the other hand, for the first time in his two lives, was sleeping silently, breathing steadly in his sleep, having rolled over to his side, and using his hands to act as an extra pillow to be more comfortable.

However, something woke him up in a flash-a familiar voice that was supposed to only belong to him. " _Nice place you've got._ "

His eyes immediately opening, and awakening from, to his horror, a memory of his and Isa's death ten years ago in a form of a nightmare, Lea sat up and to his fear, it was Axel who was now leaning against the wall next to the stairs, same as he appeared earlier in the Bailey. Lea's eyes widened at the sight of his Nobody for the second time in a row.

"What're you doing here?" Lea whispered, careful not to wake the kids up.

Axel shrugged. " _I think the question should be, "How am I here?"_ "

' _That's not really helpful._ ' Lea thought to himself, though he had to admit, Axel did have a good point. But doubt and fear was starting to creep up inside his Heart, and he had no clue why.

"Lea, is something wrong?" Roxas's tired voice gave Lea a start, and when the redhead looked, the blonde-haired teen looked half-asleep, though he didn't even see Axel at all. Lea looked at Axel again, before looking at Roxas, not certain if the boy was aware or not.

"N-No, it's nothing." Lea lied. "Go back to sleep, Rox'."

With that, Roxas collasped back into his sleeping bag, and was right back to dream-land. Lea felt bad for it. He hated lying to his friend...but with Axel here, was Roxas really his friend? What was wrong with him?

" _Heh, looks like you're the only one who can see me._ " Axel chuckled, having figured it out that Roxas didn't notice the conversation.

The Somebody turned to glare at his Nobody, and asked, "Alright, say that you're here when you're supposed to be inside my body, what do you want of me?"

" _What do I-?_ " Axel asked, startled, before realising what his real-self meant, and replied, " _You know better than that. We're supposed to have merged together. As a matter of fact, I was ready to give up my existance and fade inside you. We're the same person. We're not like Sora or Roxas. There should only be one of us._ "

Lea didn't like how this was going at all. "But...if it ended differently, what would you do?" he asked, feeling scared.

Axel blinked, before looking at the floor, and admitting, " _I don't like what happened in the past, either. So, if we didn't merge together again, even if Roxas, Xion and Namine would still come back, I would've done the same thing you want to do._ "

"So how are we in this situation now?" Lea asked.

The red-haired Nobody looked at his original, answering, " _You should be the one to answer that one_."

Gasping, Lea looked at the floor, but when he looked up to ask another question, Axel was once again gone, leaving Lea to think that it was just another strange dream. He sighed, before looking at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"I should be the one to answer, huh?" he thought to himself.

Sighing, he layed back down in his sleeping back and placed his hands behind his head, too deep into thought; both of the sudden memory of losing his heart and his best friend in nightmare form, and his unusual hallucinated conversation with his Nobody.

' _But I thought I already accepted being both. Why we are feeling seperate now?_ '

For one thing, Lea knew that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep soon now. So much for a good start tomorrow morning.

* * *

 **A/N: Thought I'd try something a bit different. Haven't figured out who the other five mysterious figures in this new group are yet, but I know who the fifth one is at least.**

 **Well, the next chapter will have to wait until possibly next week(if my computer doesn't die during this week), so in the meantime, see you later!**


End file.
